Firearm having a carrying handle and associated rear sight

ABSTRACT

A firearm having a receiver, a barrel connected to the forward portion of the receiver, a front sight connected to the forward portion of the barrel, and a carrying handle connected to the receiver. The carrying handle has a grip member portion that is adapted to be used for carrying the firearm and a forward mounting member portion depending downwardly from the forward portion of the grip member portion. The forward mounting member portion has its lower portion connected to the receiver and serves to mount the forward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver. Another rearward mounting member portion depends downwardly from the rearward portion of the grip member portion and the lower portion of the rearward mounting member portion has its lower portion connected to the receiver to connect the rearward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver. Each mounting member portion has an aperture extending through it from its forward to its aft surfaces and a rear sight is partially located within the aperture of the rearward mounting member portion so that the line of sight from the rear sight through the aperture of the forward mounting member portion to the front sight is located closer to the centerline of the bore of the firearm than is possible with present firearms that have receiver mounted carrying handles. The close location of the line of sight to the centerline of the bore makes the firearm easier to shoot and improves the accuracy potential of the firearm. The apertures in the two mounting members can also be used as auxiliary sighting means under poor light conditions.

United States Patent Dealy et al. I

[451 July 3, 1973 1 FIREARM HAVING A CARRYING HANDLE AND ASSOCIATED REAR SIGHT [75] Inventors: John F. Dealy, Rockville; Michael W.

York, Gaithersburg, both of Md,

[73] Assignee: Fairchild Industries, Inc.,

Germantown, Md.

[22] Filed: Dec. 13, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 207,012

Primary Examiner-Benjamin A. Borchelt Assistant Examiner-C. T. Jordan Attorney-Michael W. York [57] ABSTRACT A firearm having a receiver, a barrel connected to the forward portion of the receiver, a front sight connected to the forward portion of the barrel, and a carrying handle connected to the receiver. The carrying handle has a grip member portion that is adapted to be used for carrying the firearm and a forward mounting member portion depending downwardly from the forward portion of the grip member portion. The forward mounting member portion has its lower portion connected to the receiver and serves to mount the forward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver. Another rearward mounting member portion depends downwardly from the rearward portion of the grip member portion and the lower portion of the rearward mounting member portion has its lower portion connected to the receiver to connect the rearward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver. Each mounting member portion has an aperture extending through it from its forward to its aft surfaces and a rear sight is partially located within the aperture of the rearward mounting member portion so that the line of sight from the rear sight through the aperture of the forward mounting member portion to the front sight is located closer to the centerline of the bore of the firearm than is possible with present firearms that have receiver mounted carrying handles. The close location of the line of sight to the centerline of the bore makes the firearm easier to shoot and improves the accuracy potential of the firearm. The apertures in the two mounting members can also be used as auxiliary sighting means under poor light conditions.

11 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures PAIENIEBJuLa ms SREUIBF3 ATTORNEY PAIENTEDJULB ms 8HEEI20F3 m w W JOHN F DEALY MICHAEL w. YORK ATTORNEY PAIENTEDJUU I973 3. 742.635

SHEEI 3 0F 3 INVENTORS JOHN F DEALY u MICHAEL w YORK .F'JgJf ATTORNEY fad/W FIREARM HAVING A CARRYING HANDLE AND ASSOCIATED REAR SIGHT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Carrying handles that form part of the upper receiver or are attached to the upper surface of the receiver of a rifle or carbine such as those carrying handles that are provided on the M-l6 rifle that is in use by the U.S. Armed Forces and its sporterized version manufactured by Colts Inc and known as the AR-l5 permit such rifles and carbines to be easily carried in one hand without undue fatigue by the individual who is armed with the rifle or carbine. The rear sights for such rifles or carbines are mounted near the upper rearward portion of the carrying handles and in view of this high mounting of the rear sights above the centerline of the rifle or carbine bore corresponding front sights are required that are also mounted high above the centerline of the bore. As a consequence, the line of sight from the rear sight to the front sight for such firearms is located far above the centerline of the bore. This high location of the line of sight above the centerline of the bore is undesirable, since if the rifle or carbine is canted to the left or right so that the centerline of the bore is not directly under the line of sight the bullet will pass to the left or right of the point that the firearm is aimed at when the firearm is fired. Canting is rather common among shooters with little to moderate marksmanship training and as the distance between the line of sight and the centerline of the bore increases the resulting inaccuracy caused by such canting increases. Consequently, such firearms as the M-l6 and the AR-l 5 are prone to inaccurate shooting due to canting in view of the rather large distance between the line of sight and the centerline of the bore.

Firearms that have their rear sights located near the top of a carrying handle located on top of the receiver are also difficult to sight in properly and once they are sighted in for a given rangethey do not possess the flexibility for use at other ranges that firearms which have their rear sights mounted closer to the bore possess. This results from the fact that rifles or carbines with rear sights mounted high over the bore have a line of sight between the rear and front sights that is located some distance above the centerline of the bore and the extension of this line of sight must intersect the exten sion of the centerline of the bore at the target, ignoring the trajectory of the bullet, in order for the firearm to hit the target when it is fired. As a consequence, with firearms having such a high mounted rear sight, the extension of the line of sight intersects the extension of the centerline of the bore at a greater angle than the extension of the line of sight of firearms that have lower mounted rear sights and thus rifles with such high rear sights will shoot higher or lower than rifles with lower rear sights when the distance to the actual target is under or over-estimated. Firearms that have high mounted rear sights are particularly difficult to sight in properly at short ranges in view of the comparatively large angle that the extension of the line of sight must make with the extension of the bore centerline. The high mounting of the rear sight on top of the carrying handle may also make such firearms feel at least initially awkward to shoot since the shooter's head must be raised higher than with most firearms in order to utilize the sights properly.

In addition to the M-16 and AR-IS rifles, there are a number of other firearms that have combined sights and carrying handles that are mounted above the re ceiver or the barrel. U. S. Pat. No. 2,775,166 discloses a rifle that has a carrying handle and both a main optical sight and a second aperture sight that are mounted high on nit carrying handle. U. S. Pat. No. 3,166,848 discloses a sighting tube that also serves as a carrying handle that is mounted above the barrel of a fireman and U. S. Pat. No. 3,380,345 discloses a firearm that has a handle telescope combination mounted on top of the firearm. All of these prior art combined carrying handles and sights have their sights mounted near the upper or grip portion of the carrying handle and thus they also have the disadvantages that were previously described.

Previous firearm carrying handles that are connected to the receiver of the firearm do not have combined carrying handles and auxiliary sighting means that can enable the firearm to be aimed under bad lighting conditions such as those that occur at night and this has limited the usage and effectiveness of such firearms.

The present invention overcomes the disadvantages associated with firearms having carrying handles with high mounted rear sights by permitting the distance of the line of sight from the bore centerline to be reduced. In addition, the invention provides auxiliary sighting means that extends the usefulness of the firearm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to firearms and more particularly to firearms having a carrying handle and a rear sight associated with the carrying handle.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a firearm having an improved carrying handle and associated rear sight.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a firearm having a carrying handle in which the line of sight between the rear and front sights is capable of being located close to the centerline of the barrel of the firearm.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a firearm having a carrying handle and associated rear sight that is capable of improved accuracy.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a firearm having a carrying handle and associated rear sight that is less susceptible to inaccuracies caused by canting of the firearm.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a firearm having a carrying handle that is less susceptible to inaccuracies caused by incorrect estimation of the range to the target.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a firearm having a carrying handle and associated sighting means that is usable in poor lighting conditions.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a firearm having a carrying handle and associated rear sight that is easy to shoot.

The present invention provides a firearm having a receiver, a barrel connected to the forward portion of the receiver, a front sight operatively connected to the forward portion of the barrel and carrying handle. The carrying handle comprises a grip member portion adapted to be grasped by a person carrying the firearm, a rearward mounting member portion depending downwardly from the rearward portion of the grip member portion and having its lower portion connected to the receiver for mounting the rearward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver. The carrying handle also includes a forward mounting member portion that depends downwardly from the forward portion of the grip member portion that has its lower portion connected to the receiver for mounting the forward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver. The rearward and forward mounting member portions each have an aperture extending through them from their rearward to their forward surfaces, and a rear sight is connected to the carrying handle in such a position that the line of sight from the rear sight to the front sight extends through the apertur e of the forward mounting member portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be hereinafter more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 7

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view partially broken away of a firearm illustrating the carrying handle and associated sights of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the firearm embodying the present invention and a target illustrating the relationship of the line of sight from the sights of the firearm and the centerline of the bore of the firearm;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a prior art firearm and a target illustrating the relationship of the line of sight from the sights of the firearm and the centerline of the bore of the firearm;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the carrying handle portion of a firearm embodying the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view partly broken away, taken generally on the line 7-7 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view partly broken away, taken on the line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly broken away of a firearm illustrating an additional embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged side elevational view partly broken away, of a receiver extension forming part of the firearm illustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line l1-l1 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged side elevational view of a bolt carrier forming part of the firearm illustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken on the line 13--l3 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view partly broken away, of a portion of the structure illustrated in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG. 1, a firearm embodying the invention is illustrated and is generally designated by the number 10. The firearm 10 is generally identical to the current M-l6 rifle that is in use by the Armed Forces of the United States except that it has been modified in a number of important respects as will hereinafter be described in detail. The firearm 10 comprises a receiver designated generally by the number 11, a buttstock 12 that is connected at its forward end to the rear portion of the receiver, and a barrel 13 that is connected at its chamber end to the forward portion of the receiver. The firearm also includes a front sight 14, including a front sight post 15, that surrounds and is operatively connected to a part of the forward portion of the barrel l3, and a hand guard 16 located around the barrel between the front sight and the receiver. A pistol type hand grip 17 is connected to the lower rear portion of the receiver 11 and a magazine 18 is illustrated that has been inserted into the receiver. A..dust cover 19 is also illustrated in its closed position covering the ejection port in the right side of the receiver 11 and an external actuating knob 20 of an auxiliary bolt closing mechanism is illustrated projecting outside of the right side of the receiver.

Located inside of the upper portion of the receiver 11 is a bolt carrier 21 that carries a bolt (not shown) in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art and located below the bolt carrier is a hammer 22 that is pivotally mounted within the receiver by a pivot pin 23. Located below the hammer 22 in the receiver 11 is a hook sear 24 which is pivotally mounted on a trigger pin 25 which also serves to pivotally mount a trigger 26. Located above the rear portion of the hook sear within the receiver 11 is a control cam 27 for permitting the firearm to be fired either full or semi-automatically depending upon its position and an automatic sear 28 is pivotally mounted within the receiver by a pin 29. The automatic sear 28 has an upper projection 30 that is adapted to engage the lower surface 31 of the bolt carrier 21 when the bolt carrier is in its forward position and a lower projection 32 that engages and disengages a notch 33 on the hammer 22 when the firearm is fired with the automatic sear in its full automatic position. A tubular shaped buffer assembly 34 is slidably mounted within a hollow cylindrical receiver extension 35 located inside the buttstock l2 and the buffer assembly is urged in a forward direction against the rear end of the bolt carrier 21 by a recoil coil spring 36 that surrounds the buffer assembly and is located within the receiver extension.

Upon firing the firearm when the control cam 27 is set for full automatic fire as illustrated in FIG. 1, the bolt carrier 21 is driven to the rear by the action of powder gases that are tapped off from the forward portion of the barrel 13. As the bolt carrier 21 is driven to the rear, it pushes the buffer assembly to the rear and this results in the compression of the recoil spring 36. As the bolt carrier 21 is driven to the rear, it cocks the hammer 22 and the lower projection 32 on the automatic sear 28 engages the notch 33 on the hammer and prevents the hammer from rotating in a forward direction. Finally, a point is reached where the force of the recoil spring 36 stops the rearward travel of the buffer assembly 34 and the bolt carrier 21 and then the force of the compressed recoil spring forces the buffer assembly and the bolt carrier forward. When the bolt carrier 21 reaches its forward position as illustrated in FIG. 1, the lower surface or lip 31 of the bolt carrier strikes the upper projection 30 on the automatic sear 28 and this causes the lower projection 32 to disengage the notch 33 in the hammer 22 so that the hammer pivots forward about the pin 23 and a new cartridge that has been loaded into the chamber (not shown) of the firearm is fired provided pressure has been maintained upon the trigger 26. The basic structure and functioning of the firearm has not been described in greater detail since it is basically the same as the M-l6 rifle that is well known to those skilled in the art and is generally described in US. Pat. Nos. 2,951,424; 3,045,555; and 3,236,l55.

A carrying handle 37 is connected to the top of the receiver 1 l. The word connected and the like with reference to the connection of the carrying handle 37 to the receiver 11 as used herein is also meant to include a connection that results by reason of the carrying handle being an integral part of the receiver. The carrying handle 37 comprises a center grip member portion 38 that is adapted to be grasped by a person carrying the firearm, a rearward mounting member portion 39 that depends downwardly from the rearward portion of the grip member or grip portion that has its lower portion connected to the top of the receiver 11 near the rear portion of the receiver for mounting the rearward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver, and a forward mounting member portion 40 depending downwardly from the forward portion of the center grip member portion that has its lower portion connected to the top of the receiver near the forward portion of the receiver for mounting the forward portion of the grip member portion to the receiver. The rearward mounting member portion 39 has a generally cylindrical aperture 41 that extends completely through it from its rearward to its forward surfaces and the long axis or centerline of this aperture lies generally parallel to the centerline of the bore of the barrel 13. An L- shaped peep type rear sight 42 is operatively connected to the rearward mounting member portion 39 of the carrying handle 37 and is partially located within the aperture 41.

The forward mounting member 40 has a generally cylindrical aperture 43 that extends completely through it from its rearward to its forward surfaces and the long axis or centerline of this aperture lies generally parallel to the centerline of the bore of the barrel 13 and generally coincides with the centerline of the aperture 41 in the rearward mounting member 39. As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the rear sight 42 is located in such a position that the line of sight from the rear sight to the front sight 14 extends through the aperture 43 of the forward mounting member portion 40 and through a portion of the aperture 41 of the rearward mounting member portion and the line of sight from the rear peep sight 42 to the front sight post 15 is located generally a distance D from the centerline of the barrel 13 that is much less than prior art firearms with carrying handles that have the rear sight mounted near the top of the handle and have corresponding high front sights. This closer location of the rear sight 42, the front sight post 15 and the line of sight to the centerline of the barrel 13 makes the firearm easier to shoot, and improves its accuracy by reducing the undesirable effects of canting of the firearm.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the low mounting of the rear sight 42 and the post 15 of the front sight 14 of the firearm embodying the invention results in a lesser angle A between the extension of the line of sight from the rear sight and front sight to a target 44 and the centerline of the barrel 13 than the angle B between the extension of the line of sight from the high mounted rear sight 45 and the front sight 46, of a prior art firearm 47, to the target 44 and the centerline of the barrel of that firearm. This lesser angle A that the firearm embodying the invention provides means that errors in range estimation coupled with appropriate incorrect sight adjustments and the like have less effect upon the accuracy of the firearm than do corresponding errors with such ior art firearms as the firearm illustrated in FIG. 3. This is readily apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3 where it can be seen that the centerline of the bore of the prior art firearm 47 is located further below the extension of the line of sight through its sights 45 and 46 than the centerline of the bore of the firearm 10 is below the extension of the line of sight through its sights 42 and 15 between the end'of the respective barrels and the respective targets 44. Consequently, if the actual target is closer to the firearm than the point of intersection of the extension of the line of sight and the centerline of the bore, the prior art firearm 47 will shoot lower than the firearm l0 embodying the invention. The prior art firearm 47 will also shoot higher than the firearm 10 embodying the invention if the actual target is further away than the intersection of the extension of the line of sight and the centerline of the bore. As a consequence, the present firearm 10 is less subject to inaccuracies caused by incorrect range estimation and can be utilized at a wider variety of ranges without the requirement that the sights be adjusted.

The details of the carrying handle 37 of the firearm 10 embodying the invention are illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 8. The center grip member portion 38 of the carrying handle 37 tapers down to some extent from its rear to its front portion as viewed from the side and the rearward mounting member portion 39 that houses a portion of the rear sight 42 is thicker than the forward mounting member when viewed from the side. The rearward mounting member portion 39 has comparatively thick left and right respective wall portions 48 and 49 that extend outward and form an enlarged section that surrounds the circular shaped aperture 41 and gives the rearward mounting member portion strength. The rear L-shaped sight 42 is mounted within the left and right wall portions 48 and 49 of the rearward mounting member portion 39 on a rear sight windage screw 50 that extends through the rearward mounting member portion and has one end that is threaded into a nut 51 that is mounted in a recess 52 in the left wall portion 48 and the other end that is threaded into a rear sight windage drum 53 that is located on the outside of the right wall portion 49 and is pinned in place within the windage drum so that the drum can be rotated to cause rotation of the windage screw to move the sight left or right depending upon the direction of rotation of the windage drum. The forward mounting member portion 40 has a larger diameter circular shaped aperture 43 than the aperture 41 of the rearward mounting member portion 39 and the forward mounting member portion also has comparatively thick left and right respective wall portions 54 and 55 that extend outward and form an enlarged section that surrounds the aperture 43 and gives the forward mounting member portion strength.

In order to utilize the firearm 10, the individual who is armed with the firearm looks through the aperture 41 of the rearward mounting member portion 39 and the aperture 43 of the forward mounting member portion 40 from the rear of the rearward mounting member and centers the front sight post within the aperture of the rear sight 42 while placing the front sight post on the intended target in a conventional manner. The firearm 10 can then be fired in a conventional manner.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the smaller aperture 41 of the rearward mounting member portion 39 and the larger aperture 43 of the forward mounting member portion 41) can be used for auxiliary sighting purposes when using the firearm 10 under poor lighting conditions. In order to utilize these apertures for auxiliary sighting purposes, the individual who is holding the firearm looks through the aperture 41 and centers the aperture 43 within the aperture 41 and moves the firearm so that apertures continue to be centered and the target is placed within the approximate center of the apertures. The firearm can then be fired with a fair degree of accuracy at short ranges under poor lighting conditions that would not permit the use of the rear sight 42 and the front sight post 15. In the preferred embodiment, the diameter or size of the larger aperture 43 is such that the larger aperture appears to be substantially the same size as the smaller aperture 41 when the individual who is armed with the firearm 10 looks through the smaller aperture from the rear as illustrated in FIG. 7. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the rear sight 42 is basically a conventional L-shaped peep sight that has two projections 56 and 57 located at a 90 angle with respect to each other and these projections each have a hole in them near their outer ends that is used to sight the rifle. Typically, one of the projections would be longer and this projection would be placed upright when it was desired to fire the firearm at longer ranges. A leaf rear sight spring 58 is located underneath the sight 42 in a rectangular shaped recess 59 that is located in the lower wall of the aperture 41 and this spring exerts an upward pressure against the rear sight to keep the sight in the position that it has been placed by the individual who is using the firearm. A flat surface 60 is provided on the bottom of the rear sight 42 and this permits the reat sight to be located in an intermediate position as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 so that when the apertures 41 and 43 are used for sighting under poor lighting conditions, less of the aperture 41 is blocked by either the leg 56 or 57 of the rear sight.

A firearm having an additional embodyment of the present invention generally designated by the number 61 is illustrated in FIGS. 9 through 15. The firearm 61 is similar to the previously described firearm 10, however, its carrying handle 62 has respective apertures 63 and 64 in its respective rearward and forward mounting member portions 65 and 66 and a rear sight 42 that are located closer to the centerline of the bore of the firearm. In order to permit this lower mounted rear sight 42 to be used by the individual who is firing the firearm, the firearm has a modified buttstock 67 that has a lower upper surface 68 that is located closer to the centerline of the bore of the firearm and is located below the rear upper surface 69 of the receiver 70 so that the individual using the firearm can sight through the rear sight, In order to permit the buttstock 67 to have a lower upper surface 68, the buttstock has a hollow elongated receiver extension 71 located in its interior that has the flattened cross section illustrated in FIG. 11. A modified buffer assembly 72 is slidably mounted within the receiver extension 71 and the buffer assembly has a rear cylindrical portion 73 that is surrounded by a recoil coil spring 74 that rides in the respective upper and lower longitudinal recesses 75 and 76 that are formed in the respective upper and lower walls 77 and 78 of the receiver extension. The buffer assembly 72 has a forward head portion 79 connected to the forward end of the cylindrical portion 73 that rides within the interior of the receiver extension 71 and is shaped to match the shape of the interior of the receiver extension. The entire buffer assembly 72 is urged in a forward direction by the action of the recoil spring 74 which exerts its force against the forward head portion 79 of the buffer assembly.

Firearm 61 also has a modified bolt carrier 80 which has a modified rear portion 81 that has upper and lower fiat surfaces 82 and 83 and is adapted to slide within the interior of the receiver extension 71 when the firearm is fired. As illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13, the modified rear portion 81 of the bolt carrier 80 has a uniform solid cross section and a longitudinally extending notch 84 is provided in the lower surface 83 of the rear portion of the bolt carrier that is adapted to slidably receive the upper projection, a conventional buffer retainer (not shown) when the firearm is fired and the bolt carrier is forced into the receiver extension 71. The respective forward and center portions 85 and 86 of the bolt carrier 80 have substantially the same configuration as the respective portions of the bolt carrier used in the current M-l6 rifle and the center portion has a longitudinally extending slot 87 that extends through it from its top to bottom surfaces that is adapted to receive the hammer of the firearm when the firearm is fired. As illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 15, in order that the firearm 61 may be properly fired fully automatically in the manner previously described with respect to the firearm illustrated in FIG. 1, the firearm 61 has a modified automatic sear 88 that has an upper projection 89 that is longer than the projection 30 of the automatic sear 28 that was previously described in relation to FIG. 1. This projection 89 is adapted to contact a projection 90 on the lower surface of the rear portion 81 of the bolt carrier 80 that causes the automatic sear 88 to be operated in the same manner as that previously described in relation to the sear 28, sear projection 30, and the lower bolt carrier surface or projection 31 of the firearm 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 when the firearm is set for full automatic fire.

Although the invention has been described with reference to certain preferred embodiments, it should be understood that many variations and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a firearm, a receiver, a barrel connected to the forward portion of said receiver, a front sight operatively connected to the forward portion of said barrel, a carrying handle, said carrying handle comprising a grip member portion adapted to be grasped by a person carrying the firearm, a rearward mounting member portion depending downwardly from the rearward portion of said grip member portion and having its lower portion connected to said receiver for mounting the rearward portion of said grip member portion to said receiver, said rearward mounting member portion having an aperture extending therethrough from its rearward to its forward surfaces, a forward mounting member portion depending downwardly from the forward portion of said grip member portion and having its lower portion connected to said receiver for mounting the forward portion of said grip member portion to said receiver, said forward mounting member portion having an aperture extending therethrough from its rearward to its forward surfaces, and a rear sight connected to said carrying handle in such a position that the line of sight from said rear sight to said front sight extends through the aperture of said forward mounting member portion.

2. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said rear sight is connected to said carrying handle in such a position that the line of sight from said rear sight to said front sight also extends through at least a portion of the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.

3. The firearm of claim 2 wherein said rear sight is operatively connected to the rearward mounting member portion of said carrying handle.

4. The firearm of claim 3 wherein said rear sight has at least a portion thereof located within the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.

5. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said forward mounting member portion has an enlarged section surrounding its aperture.

6. The firearm of claim 5 wherein said rearward mounting member portion has an enlarged section surrounding its aperture.

7. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said rear sight has two normal operative positions in which the rear sight partially blocks the view through the apertures of said mounting member portions and a third position adapted to permit less blockage of the view through the apertures of said mounting member portions by said rear sight.

8. The firearm of claim 1 wherein the apertures of said rearward and said forward mounting member portions have substantially circular cross sections.

9. The firearm of claim 8 wherein the aperture of said forward mounting member portion is larger than the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.

10. The firearm of claim 9 wherein the aperture of said forward mounting member portion is of sufficient size to appear to be substantially the same diameter as the diameter of the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion when viewed through the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.

11. The firearm of claim 1 further comprising a buttstock connected to the rear portion of said receiver, a receiver extension located within said buttstock in close proximity to the upper surface of said buttstock, a bolt carrier movably mounted within said receiver, and means located within said receiver extension for urging said bolt carrier in a forward direction, said receiver extension having a substantially uniform cross section with a substantially fiat upper surface, said bolt carrier having a rear portion with a substantially flat upper surface that is adapted to move within said receiver extension. 

1. In a firearm, a receiver, a barrel connected to the forward portion of said receiver, a front sight operatively connected to the forward portion of said barrel, a carrying handle, said carrying handle comprising a grip member portion adapted to be grasped by a person carrying the firearm, a rearward mounting member portion depending downwardly from the rearward portion of said grip member portion and having its lower portion connected to said receiver for mounting the rearward portion of said grip member portion to said receiver, said rearward mounting member portion having an aperture extending therethrough from its rearward to its forward surfaces, a forward mounting member portion depending downwardly from the forward portion of said grip member portion and having its lower portion connected to said receiver for mounting the forward portion of said grip member portion to said receiver, said forward mounting member portion having an aperture extending therethrough from its rearward to its forward surfaces, and a rear sight connected to said carrying handle in such a position that the line of sight from said rear sight to said front sight extends through the aperture of said forward mounting member portion.
 2. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said rear sight is connected to said carrying handle in such a position that the line of sight from said rear sight to said front sight also extends through at least a portion of the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.
 3. The firearm of claim 2 wherein said rear sight is operatively connected to the rearward mounting member portion of said carrying handle.
 4. The firearm of claim 3 wherein said rear sight has at least a portion thereof located within the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.
 5. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said forward mounting member portion has an enlarged section surrounding its aperture.
 6. The firearm of claim 5 wherein said rearward mounting member portion has an enlarged section surrounding its aperture.
 7. The firearm of claim 1 wherein said rear sight has two normal operative positions in which the rear sight partially blocks the view through the apertures of said mounting member portions and a third position adapted to permit less blockage of the view through the apertures of said mounting member portions by said rear sight.
 8. The firearm of claim 1 wherein the apertures of said rearward and said forward mounting member portions have substantially circular cross sections.
 9. The firearm of claim 8 wherein the aperture of said forward mounting member portion is larger than the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.
 10. The firearm of claim 9 wherein the aperture of said forward mountinG member portion is of sufficient size to appear to be substantially the same diameter as the diameter of the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion when viewed through the aperture of said rearward mounting member portion.
 11. The firearm of claim 1 further comprising a buttstock connected to the rear portion of said receiver, a receiver extension located within said buttstock in close proximity to the upper surface of said buttstock, a bolt carrier movably mounted within said receiver, and means located within said receiver extension for urging said bolt carrier in a forward direction, said receiver extension having a substantially uniform cross section with a substantially flat upper surface, said bolt carrier having a rear portion with a substantially flat upper surface that is adapted to move within said receiver extension. 